Typically, when a publisher discontinues a live-service game, it`s presumed that the game failed to perform as expected, usually financially, and its underwhelming results led to its shutdown. However, despite the upcoming shutdown of Zynga`s multiplayer shooter Star Wars Hunters in October and lower-than-anticipated engagement, Zynga CEO Frank Gibeau asserts that it was “no failure” at all.
Speaking with The Game Business, Gibeau explained that the Zynga team built a “great tech base” and a “fun game” with Hunters, but the project did not become a “viable business.” Specifically, Gibeau cited a lack of “organic installs derived from the license” as a contributing factor to its imminent discontinuation.
Gibeau also mentioned issues related to utilizing the intellectual property: “We had some issues with how we could explore the intellectual property—could you play Darth Vader or not? That sort of thing,” he said. “Ultimately, we ended up with a cross-platform game on Switch and mobile that ran perfectly. It was fun. But it didn`t engage over the long term. And it wasn`t a viable business.”
Gibeau added that ending support for Hunters will allow Zynga another “shot on goal” with a different IP, now equipped with the accumulated knowledge and technical foundation. “The action shooter category on mobile is very large and growing, and we`d like to be there,” Gibeau stated. “Now we have an Unreal tech base, with some great leads in terms of engineering, developers, and designers… Now it`s about taking the learnings from Star Wars Hunters and applying them to another attempt with a different intellectual property.”
Star Wars Hunters was first announced by Zynga during a Nintendo Direct presentation in February 2021. It finally launched in June 2024, only for Zynga to announce that the game would cease operations on October 1, 2025, with a final update released on April 15. A PC port of the game was also canceled.
Currently, Star Wars Hunters is still available for mobile devices and Nintendo Switch.